Coco Gauff’s mother Candi cheers her up after heartbreaking Australian Open SF exit

Coco Gauff's mother Candi lifted her daughter's spirits after a heartbreaking exit from the Australian Open 2024.

Gauff's campaign in Melbourne ended with a 7-6(2), 6-4 loss to Belarusia's Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. This was her third loss against Sabalenka overall and first at the Grand Slams.

Gauff had a solid run until the quarterfinals, where she faced stern resistance from Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk. She battled it out with Kostyuk for more than three hours to earn a 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 6-2 win.

Prior to the Kostyuk clash, all of Gauff's victories came in straight sets. The American defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0 in the first round and Caroline Dolehide 7-6(2), 6-2 in the second. She earned a 6-0, 6-2 win over Alycia Parks in the third round and a 6-1, 6-2 win over Magdalena Frech in the fourth.

After the disappointing defeat against Sabalenka in the semifinals, Gauff took to Instagram to share her feelings with her supporters.

"Reminding myself that I’m still evolving. Time to get back to work and come back stronger. Thank you @australianopen for the memories this year and thank you everyone for their support," she wrote in a post.

Candi Gauff, who watched her daughter from the stands in every match at Melbourne Park, cheered her up by dropping a comment.

"You did phenomenal," Candi wrote.

Coco Gauff's Instagram post

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Coco Gauff: "I am really proud of myself"

Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff was in high spirits despite her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open semifinals, saying that it was a "positive tournament" overall.

"I tend to be hard on myself, so I feel like today I was, like, dang, but I think looking back of, like, overall this stage of my life, like, it was obviously a successful time," she said at her press conference.

If Gauff had defeated in the semi-final, she would have dethroned her from the second spot in world rankings. Gauff was nevertheless happy about her achievements, including the US Open 2023 triumph, thus far.

"I am really proud of myself. I did want to win a Slam as a teenager, and I did that. Obviously today I was hoping to get No. 2, or at least give myself a chance to get No. 2. It didn't happen, but I feel like I'm there, yeah. So hopefully I can go only upwards from here," Coco Gauff added.